>> Sunday, June 5, 2016

BANTAY GOBYERNO

Ike Señeres

The
slow flow of traffic is a multifaceted problem that needs a multidisciplinary
solution. It could just be a matter of semantics, but the problem is not the
existence of traffic, but the slow flow of traffic itself. By definition, there
is already an existence of traffic if there is at least one vehicle on the
road. Strictly speaking, the problem is not the traffic, but the slow flow of
traffic.

By way of sarcasm, we could say that the only
way to prevent traffic is to prevent all vehicles from using the roads. But of
course, that is not the solution, because the solution is to manage the
movement of traffic so that it will flow smoothly in accordance with local and
global standards.

That said, the next question is to agree on
an acceptable rate of flow that could be measurable, for example in terms of
kilometers per hour (KPH). The capability to measure is important and necessary
because that would be the only way to measure the success and failure of
traffic flow targets.

As it is now, we tend to measure the flow of
traffic in terms of light, moderate and heavy, but these qualitative indicators
are difficult to understand and are practically useless because the data could
not be analyzed. Besides, these qualitative indicators could not place
responsibility on the local government units (LGUs), in terms of their own
responsibility to manage the traffic flows.

Unlike illegal drugs and illegal gambling
that are clearly covered by the jurisdiction of the LGUs, it is not really
clearly stated that the flow of traffic is its responsibility. Here in Metro
Manila, it is clear that the overall responsibility belongs to the Metropolitan
Manila Development Authority (MMDA) and what that means is that the LGUs within
the metropolis could not be blamed for the slow flow of traffic at all.

In
theory, it is possible to measure the flow of traffic within a town or city, in
terms of KPH. In this context, it would be practical to delegate to the local
authorities the responsibility to target and meet their own KPH goals, based on
local conditions.

Although there are many practical and legal
actions that could be taken in order to solve the problem of slow traffic
flows, there are also many technical solutions that are ready to be deployed,
some of which would not even cost anything. Since my line is information and
communications technology (ICT), I am hopelessly biased in favor of ICT
technologies.

As I see it, I think that the problem of slow
traffic flows could be solved by the powerful troika of the internet cloud, Big
Data and the internet of things (IOT). As I see it, the solutions are all about
data, how data is analyzed, and how it is used as a basis to make management
decisions.

As of now, there are already many online and
mobile services that are already available for free, and all we have to do is
to use them. For example, there is already Google Maps, Google Street View and
Waze. With Google alone, we would already know how and where we could direct
the flow of the traffic.

With
Waze, we would know where the choke points are, and that would help us redirect
the traffic too. These are just the obvious solutions, but there are many more
data sources that we could tap, among which are the National Center for
Transportation Studies (NCTS) at the University of the Philippines in Diliman
and the National Mapping and Resource Information Authority (NAMRIA) in Taguig
City.

At the risk of being off tangent, I would
even say that the software used to track the migration patterns of tuna fish
via satellite could be modified to also collect data in relation to the traffic
flow patterns of motor vehicles. Since tuna fish emit heat from their bodies,
powerful sensors on board satellites are able to read these concentrations of
heat and therefore it is possible to detect where the schools of tuna fish are
at any given time.

Since motor vehicles also emit heat from
their engines, we could also find out via satellite where the concentrations of
vehicles are at any given time.

The entire metropolis is now equipped with
thousands of traffic lights, but it seems that the data from these devices are
not collected and are not analyzed to produce information that could be used
for making management decisions.

Aside from traffic lights, the metropolis is
also equipped now with hundreds of closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras.
Just like the traffic lights, it seems that the data from these CCTV cameras
are not being collected and analyzed. If only the data from these two sources
could be collected and combined, we would have more than enough information for
making management decisions. Just to be clear, it is not just the real time
data that are useful, because we could also use the historical data.

Certainly, we are not lacking in satellite
resources because we even have our own microsatellite now, but as it is now,
drones that are equipped with cameras and sensors are already available in the
market, and are practically affordable too. Aside from that, there are hundreds
of cell sites all over the metropolis that could also be equipped with cameras
and sensors, thus completing the web of data collectors all over the place. It
may be too simplistic to say that there is a way if there is a will, but that
is already saying the obvious because the ways are already available
everywhere.

Having said that the problem of traffic flows
would require multidisciplinary solutions, I now say that we should also look
at the surface quality of our roads and highways, and I do not just mean
patching potholes. What I mean is that we should now adopt local standards for
the smoothness of our road surfaces, based on acceptable international
standards.

On that note, I would also say that we should
take a look at how corruption in the construction of roads and highways are
affecting the quality of road surfaces. Simply said, better road surfaces would
also translate into faster traffic flows.